After a student brought an AR-style magazine to school, Upper Darby is proposing weapons detection systems

The Upper Darby School District is proposing weapons detection systems in its middle and high schools after two gun-related incidents in the first weeks of school, with students carrying a loaded gun and an AR-style magazine.

On Tuesday, Superintendent Daniel McGarry will present a proposal to the school board for a scanning system that uses artificial intelligence to identify possible weapons. The board will hold a special voting meeting that night to decide on the measure, McGarry said.

It isn’t clear how the board, which has previously rejected adding detection systems, might vote. But McGarry said the board directed administrators to bring forward a plan as concerns over guns have disrupted the new school year, starting with a Sept. 3 incident in which McGarry said a student at the high school suspected of being under the influence was searched and found to be carrying a loaded .40-caliber gun.

Luckily, “there was cooperation,” McGarry said. “I’m not saying it’s OK the child had a gun, but it was not out of control. It was over in 30 minutes.”

The next week, McGarry began getting calls from parents on Sept. 13, informing him someone might be carrying a gun at the high school. The calls stemmed from an incident a day earlier in which a student was arrested with a gun off campus.

The parents would not provide names, but McGarry got some through a contact, and directed the high school principal to start calling students into the office. Separately that morning, teachers identified a student at the high school who appeared to be under the influence; when searched by police, that student was found to have an AR-style magazine, McGarry said.

Officials then had to determine whether an assault rifle was in the building; they determined it wasn’t, having found out where the gun was, McGarry said.

“We have to keep kids safe and people safe,” he said. “It’s unfortunate that we’re a lot of times on a wild-goose chase.”

The incidents have frightened parents and spurred a new push for metal detectors, with a petition launched Sept. 13 on Change.org garnering more than 1,000 signatures as of Thursday.

Citing the discovery of the gun and AR-style magazine, Jill Altmann, the petition’s creator, wrote: “This is simply unacceptable and terrifying. Our children, along with the staff of the school, deserve a safe, gun-free environment.” Altmann, a district parent, declined an interview request this week, saying she wanted to see what happens at Tuesday’s meeting.

Metal detectors have been somewhat controversial in Philadelphia, where district-run high schools have had the technology since the 1990s. Some students and other critics have argued the system creates a culture of mistrust and makes schools feel like prisons.

As school administrators have noticed more students trying to bring guns to school at younger ages, the district last year implemented artificial intelligence-powered gun detection in schools serving grades six to eight. Unlike with metal detectors, the system doesn’t require kids to remove their bags, but alerts school safety officers if a weapon is detected when students pass through the two parallel poles.

While Upper Darby has added other safety measures over the years — like social workers and conflict resolution specialists — the board has rejected past recommendations by administrators for detection systems. “To be honest, people were unhappy I even brought it up,” McGarry said, citing concerns that students would feel criminalized.

The school board’s president, Donald Fields, did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday.

McGarry said he will present the costs and logistical considerations of implementing the Evolv detection systems, which he said are in use by some other school districts, as well as major sporting complexes.

The software is designed to detect specific types of metal, like that in the barrel of a gun, though Chromebooks can also trigger it, McGarry said; he estimated about 10% of the high school’s 4,400 students would have to be searched.

In the past, administrators had proposed the detection system as a pilot program, in part to work out how many kids would require extra screening and how much added staffing would be needed; if it’s approved Tuesday, they’ll have to figure out its full adoption, McGarry said.

In addition to costs — he described a “multimillion”-dollar effort in a historically cash-strapped district — McGarry said ensuring adequate staffing, and training people, will be a hurdle.

“Obviously, you can’t put a price on safety,” he said. If the school board approves the proposal, “our job is to try to figure out how we internally pay for it.”